DENTON, Texas – The North Texas soccer team captured each of the last two Sun Belt Conference regular season titles and the 2012 SBC Tournament championship, and will look to keep that momentum going into its first season of Conference USA action in 2013.

Coming off its third NCAA Tournament berth since 2004, North Texas is slated to face nine teams that finished 2012 inside the RPI top 100 – including four top-50 teams that also played in the NCAA Tournament.

"We're all excited about the 2013 schedule, especially coming off of a banner championship year,” said North Texas head coach John Hedlund. “Several teams we will play this fall will be ranked top 25 nationally, with a few ranked as high as the top 10. This schedule should definitely prepare us for CUSA."

A regionally strong schedule, NT will play 13 games against in-state or neighboring-state schools. The Mean Green will play its home opener against Houston Baptist on August 25, and will host Big 12 rival Oklahoma State on Sept. 22. Last season, the No. 7 ranked Cowgirls topped NT, 3-2, in a thriller in Stillwater, Okla.

Baylor finished the year as the No. 1 team in the Central Region and No. 11 in the country, and North Texas played them to a scoreless tie in Denton in Sept. NT makes the return trip to Waco, Texas, to face the Bears, who advanced to the NCAA Tournament Third Round, on Sept. 20.

The Mean Green also gets a rematch with TCU in Fort Worth on Sept. 8. The Horned Frogs were the only team to beat North Texas at home last season thanks to a 1-0 decision in Sept. NT finished 6-1-2 at home last season, and is 56-7-5 in sevens seasons at the Mean Green Soccer Complex.

NT will travel to Winston Salem, N.C., to take on national powers Wake Forest (Aug. 30) and Virginia Tech (Sept. 1). A No. 3 seed in last year’s NCAA Tournament, Wake Forest finished the season ranked No. 15 in the country. Virginia Tech received votes in the final top 25 poll and also advanced to the NCAA Tournament.